Fun concepts brought low by crummy execution. Hand-to-hand combat can benefit from skill-based flourishes, but rarely goes beyond crude whomping. Large plains hide crannies galore, though you navigate them atop a horse with the handling of a bus.

While there are occasional sparks from things like laser weapons, or games of tag in the arena combat, too much time is spent racing the same courses at the same speed, with only a very gradual increase in AI awareness to differentiate each step up through the ranks. [Mar 2007, p.85]

In this game of strong beginnings and - at last - a comprehensive ending, the journey between the two needs more spring in its step. [Issue#360, p.118]

In all likelihood, we'll remember its delightful world for some time. In future years, we may even enjoy the few fuzzy memories of Forgotton Anne that linger. For now, however, they're tinged with disappointment. [July 2018, p.114]

Some will still find DOAX 2 to be a soothingly directionless or charmingly goofy, a game that feels numbingly pointless when treated like other games. But if this is you second visit to Zack Island, you may well find yourself wasting fewer hours than expected. [Feb 2007, p.79]

At least building the game around a mountain ascent avoids survival horror cliché. Instead of stepping bravely into the murk you are motivated forwards by the peak's promise. [Oct 2009, p.98]

There’s a familiar, welcoming charm to Wii Party U, which offers an evening spent in the company of nice-but-quiet friends. We wouldn’t blame you, however, if you snuck out to visit the more vibrant party hosted by Wario or Bumpie next door.

This is another ugly blunder. Pacific Assault demonstrates that bewildering battle scenes are no equal for clever level design and attention to detail. [Christmas 2004, p.92]

It’s a B-movie game in every sense, but approach it with sufficiently lowered expectations, and you may just be pleasantly surprised.

Some cool things happen to crazy people in A2M's Wet, but unfortunately there are times in between where you're actually expected to play it. [Nov 2009, p.99]

Board game fans might be able to overlook these sins to find the deep game within, but developers Full Control has done too little to evangelise the cult of Space Hulk.

Puzzle Bobble's hardly become a bad game, it just doesn't seem interested in getting any better. [Oct 2009, p.99]

The pacing, thanks to a combination of necessary haste and the weakness of your divided squad members, feels more akin to a corridor shooter; there’s a constant sensation of feeling harried and hemmed in. [Oct 2004, p.107]

BW2 is a strategy game that doesn't demand much strategy. That doesn't mean it's not sometimes enjoyable, but it's nothing more than an occasional diversion. [Jan 2008, p.84]

The convincing sense of speed is dulled by a lack of weight to the handling, while collisions betray some erratic physics: you can easily be shunted into a respawn by other racers, yet left relatively unscathed by a head-on smash into trees.

There are moments of compelling spectacle...But the stop/start intrusion of missed QTE presses hurts these moments of the game, even as the dramatic visuals start to win over the most skeptical player. [June 2009, p.95]

The studio cannot seem to reconcile with itself, and in this sense, it's unwittingly proved the point its latest narrative fails to: with so many sides to consider, not all stories are so easily tied up. [Issue#351, p.106]

If Massive Damage's kitchen-sink approach to combat systems threatens to become overwhelming, it is at least built upon solid foundations. [Issue#351, p.107]

Yes, there’s a good sense of speed, but the dreariness of racing against brainless AI opponents who combine little awareness of their surroundings with a remarkably lethargic and lifeless approach to a supposedly exciting activity soon has that counterbalanced. [May 2005, p.85]

Acclaim's latest manages to tick all the required futuristic race sim boxes, except the one titled 'memorable'. There's one really good thing about XGRA - it's all over very quickly. [Nov 2003, p.109]

Unepic is a perfectly serviceable platform-RPG, but Unremarkable might have been a more apposite title.

Players who seek the traditional fantasy MMOG experience may find something of value in TESO, because it has evidently been built with them in mind. But it is difficult to imagine many others investing hundreds of hours in a place this bland, in a formula this familiar, and in a game this demanding of both your time and your money.

Subtitling this Battle Revolution could be considered a breach of advertising standards; it's about as revolutionary as a racing game with powerslides. But while Custom Robo lacks a fresh hook, it's done with such a diligent simplicity that it's hard not to take a shine to it. [July 2004, p.108]

While suspension of disbelief can stretch to accommodate the odd genuine flaw – inconsistencies between what objects you can and can’t punch through, for example – the sequel has too many to hide. [Feb 2007, p.80]

Quietly competent to the very end, Avatar's certainly not the disaster you may have feared, but it can feel patronising, pompous and a little unnecessary. [Jan 2010, p.84]

Boom Boom Rocket is marking time rather than feeling the rhythm, and that’s not enough to set Live Arcade’s skies alight. [June 2007, p.88]

Apart from its admirable combinatorial system, Impossible Creatures is just another RTS. Indeed it's fairly simplistic as the genre goes...In theory this should foster a quick and immediate title, but in practice the build-up of resources is slow. Plainly average. [March 2003, p.100]

It's a shame the journey itself can't match the poignancy of the final destination. [December 2016, p.123]